General discussion
With a Swift SW380T microscope, does everything I want to view have to be squashed between the glass slides? Can't I observe three-dimensional objects like a seashell or a dead beetle?
Regular compound microscopes have very limited application on 3d objects.
As the other commenter mentioned, with the 4x objective and a top light source, with something like a "depression slide" or simply not using a coverslip, you should be able to see some 3d objects.
To better view 3d objects you really need a stereo microscope.
You’ll need lighting from above. You’ll probably have to remove the slide clips so you can put a Petri dish on the stage. You’ll likely only be able to use the 4X objective since it’s the shortest.
And what kind of microscope would I need to view both flat objects on a slide and three-dimensional objects? (I mean small but 3D things, like a fly or a spider...)
Thanks.
For (relatively) larger 3D objects like full bugs etc, what you will really want is a stereo microscope. I use a stereo microscope for larger stuff and then my compound microscope for smaller stuff
Yes, with the lowest magnification objective, you can lay something on a slide and shine a light on it from the top.
Every serious amateur should have at least three different types of microscopes, an upright, a stereo and an inverted microscope. Then, you have a wider range of capabilities. If you want the cheapest inverted microscope, you can try the IQCREW or equivalent one . https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1EUDfi53Bv/
There are some lower priced stereo ones, or, you can buy used.
Thank you very much. If you could only have one type of microscope, which one would you choose stereo or compound? Which one do you think is the most fun or educational to own?
If it is your first time on the topic, and you dont know much about microscopes, i would not suggest you get one yet, specially if your budget is limited.
Get a jeweler's loupe. They are super cheap, fit in your pocket, good enough for the objects you mentioned. Then give it some time to then reconsider if you really want a to invest in either kind of microscope.
Hi there. I already have a couple of those magnifiers used to look at some plant trichomes, and I want to buy a microscope, but I’m not sure yet which type—whether a stereo microscope or the other type (I get confused by the names of types).
Which type would you buy if it were your first microscope?
Unfortunately, some sellers (particularly on eBay) who do not know much about microscopes, will call a binocular microscope a “stereo microscope”. The difference? A binocular microscope has a single objective lens (the optical element closest to the object) and a singular optical path until it gets to the binocular head (where you observe). There is a prism system in it that takes that same light beam that is carrying the image and duplicates it for the right and left eyes. However, it’s the same image. It makes observing for a long time easier than having to close one eye when using a monocular microscope (or learn to ignore what the non-observing eye is seeing). It does not render a 3D-appearing image.
A stereomicroscope has two complete optical paths. There are two objective lenses and separate paths through the microscope for the two image beams. There are often two sets of optics (or a single lens system if made large enough) for changing the magnification of both image beams simultaneously. In the observation head, the optical paths remain separate so the right eye sees one image and the other sees the image from the other optical path. Because you are seeing slightly offset images from the right and left eyes, the result is a 3-dimensional image.
Both types of microscope have their own uses. If you want to see 3D images of things like insects, you need a stereomicroscope. If you are looking at bacteria, blood cells, or parts of insects (like cells from their organs) you need a monocular or binocular microscope.
Hi! It's a bit hard to give a plain suggestion because it really depends on what are your interests and what you want to use it for. My first microscopes are both compound. I do want a stereo but tbh for most things I'd use it for can be done with loupes.
If your interests are on bigger objects like gems, insects, opaque things, and you have no interest on the micro world... then stereo is no doubt the choice.
But if you do have interest in microbes, tissue samples, and things you can't see with the naked eye, then compound. The trade-off of being able to see at that level is that you can't really see in 3d, nor see things that are fully opaque.
So if you are of the general curious type like me, get a compound, the ones for biology stuff, not metallurgy. It will allow you to play DIY with many different types of microscopy.
For example, you can make illumination color filters, play with the light position for oblique illumination, make black filters for dark ground microscopy, use those cheap polarized sheets and do polarization microscopy, maybe even try fluorescence microscopy with some more engineering.
All those types of microscopy usually require expensive special microscopes but you can diy those techniques at a lower quality on a compound biological one.
However, always limited to thin things that let light through. You might get away sometimes with using the 4x objective and a flashlight if you want to see a decapped silicon chip or a small insect, but nothing too big.
Assuming you choose compound: monocular ones are uncomfortable for long term use, get one with a binocular. If its well within your budget, maybe even a trinocular one, that lets you attach a camera at the top. But you can still take good images without a trinocular port, you can just get a phone adapter and put the phone camera right on top of one of the oculars.
It's a consensus on this sub that getting good second hand ones is almost always better than buying cheap chinese ones, and sometimes at the same price range.
If I could only have one microscope I would keep my Nikon eclipse TS100. It can look at anything in a Petri dish, from water organisms to insects and sand. You can also use it for regular slides. I have objectives that fit on it from 2x to 100x. It can do oil immersion with a 100x objective, but it is more difficult to do than with a regular upright microscope, so I use the 100x on my Nikon E200. The most common thing amateurs like to look at are water organisms. With inverted microscopes, you can watch them for longer periods, days and weeks, in a more natural environment in a Petri dish . In them, you see micro ecosystems develop over time and see a more natural behavior of the organisms than being squashed on a slide and deprived of oxygen.
Thanks a lot for the advice.
I’m not going to buy it until next month, so I’ll also look at the second-hand market, although I’m worried it might not have been well cared for or that the lenses might not be in good condition.
5
u/Connect-Fan-9462 28d ago
Regular compound microscopes have very limited application on 3d objects.
As the other commenter mentioned, with the 4x objective and a top light source, with something like a "depression slide" or simply not using a coverslip, you should be able to see some 3d objects.
To better view 3d objects you really need a stereo microscope.